Instructional Archive: "Sideline Surgery for a Sidewall Blowout"

As part of an ongoing series, Inside Lacrosse is scouring its archives to bring you years worth of instructional tips that you may have missed. Below, former IL Stick Doctor and Virginia standout attackman Ian Shure shows you how to quickly repair a sidewall blowout without having to restring the entire sidewall. This article first appeared in the November 2005 issue of the Magazine.

Two minutes into the first lacrosse game of the year, you catch a hard pass and make a play to move the ball forward. You make the pass but the ball just falls clumsily to your feet. Confused, you reach down to pick up the groundball, and that's when you se it — a blown-out sidewall string. You make your way off the field to figure out what you're going to do.

If your lacrosse stick issues are anything like this, then you're in luck. The Stick Doctor is back to perform surgery on your ailing wands. Pay attention, because stick maintenance is a skill that's as important as getting your bottom hand down on a groundball.

This is the first in a series of articles designed to help you get back on the field quickly after a mid-game stick disaster. As an added bonus, the Doctor will also hook you up with permanent fixes to perform after the game so the blowout doesn't happen again.

As a prelude to all of these tips, the Doctor recommends you put together an emergency stick surgery kit and keep it on the sidelines at all times. That way, you're prepared for anything and everything. This kit should include: a spool of sidewall string, a spool of traditional stringing nylons, four loose leathers, six nylon shooting strings, four cotton shooting strings (usually hockey skate laces), stoppers, tape, matches/lighter and scissors.

Now, on to patching that hole in your sidewall.

What you’ll need:

2 five-inch pieces of pre-cut sidewall string

Scissors

Matches or a lighter

The Procedure:

Basically, you’re using a small piece of new sidewall string to bridge the gap created by the broken string. To do this, you’ll be using a pretty simple knot to tie each end of the new string to the broken ends of the old one.

Step 1:

Find the break in the string and pull each broken end out of the next hole in the sidewall. When this is finished, you should have two holes in the sidewall that don’t have string running through them. You need to do this so you have enough string to work with to tie the knots.

Step 2:

I knew there was a name for this knot, so I asked a bunch of sailors and boy scouts. They were clueless. Turns out I should've been asking fishermen. It's called an Angler's Knot. Take the new replacement piece of sidewall string and tie a basic loop knot, wrapping it around one of the broken ends of string in the stick. Pull it tight and then slide the knot down the sidewall string until it’s right against the sidewall of the stick. Then take the broken end of the sidewall string and tie the same knot, wrapping it around the new replacement string as close to the first knot as possible. Then pull the two knots together tightly.

THE ANGLER'S KNOT

Step 3:

This is simple. Just lace the new replacement string through the holes in the sidewall and the mesh or traditional nylon, depending on what kind of pocket you have. Mimic the same pattern as the sidewall string on the other side of the stick. Once you’ve gone through those two holes, tie another Angler's knot on the other broken end of the sidewall string.

That’s it. Shouldn’t take you more than a couple of minutes. Then you’re right back in the game with no worries about your stick. After the game, replace the entire sidewall string to prevent any further problems.

Ian won a national championship as an attackman at Virginia in 1999 and is now the offensive coordinator at his high school, Boys’ Latin. He also has invented a stringing style called the “Shure Shot”, patent pending. Stay tuned to upcoming issues of Inside Lacrosse for further tips from the Stick Doctor.